Mold for shoe counters



May 10, 1938. 1.. F. EXLEY MOLD FOR SHOE COUNTERS Filed April 29, 1957 bent rathersharply upon itself at its middle be-m Patented May 10, 1938 a omreo iii;

P AT E N OFF 1 C E MOLD FOR SHOE GOUNTERS Q Leo F ExlewJohnson City, N. Y.,.assignor to Endicott. Johnson Corporation,

Endicott, N. Y.,

. a corporation of .New .York

. Application. April 29y 10. Claims.

a cooperating male mold member forthepurpose M1.

of shaping therebetween the upper sidewalls and back of a stiffener blank inserted .thereimmeans a and-showing. in dotted lines thebent stiffener z..blank entering thestraight-line. crevice at the being provided at the opposed faces of the jaws 10 in rear of the inner ends of. the recesses for re..

taining the bent heel portion of the stiffener. blank confined within the=recesses, thereby preventing the bent end from being pinched in the. -mold between said opposed faces of the jaws 3rd? jacent the pivot when the jaws are swung into closed position.

- i The usual female mold,.now in common use,

consists of apair of opposed recessed jawsmovao 1.. flange.

' able toward and from each other and adapted to receive therebetween the. counter-stiffener. blank fore same istplaced insposition -within the. mold recess. -When released within the mold the ope.

' posite sides of/theblank spring outwardly against the walls of the recesses and hold: the blank in. place in .the moldwhilethe two. jaws are being -moved toward each other toclosely embrace the 1.1g shown in Fig. .45With the jaws swung into closed .z; position.

' male mold member; but often 'thesharply bent portion of the blank; which constitutes the top of the heel portion of the finishedcounter-stiffener,

=would enter the crevice of the, mold in rear of therecesses formed between the; opposed faces of. the jawsadjacentthe pivot, causing said porl tion of the blank to be pinched or crushed by displacement of the fibres of the blank. The primary object of. my invention is to obviate this objection by providing; female-mold jaws in which theuopposed surfaces thereof at thecrevice in rear of the recessesqare serrated so i as to continuously overlap andinterlock, whereby.

. when the mold is open the slightly separated interlockingand overlapping serrated portions will positively prevent the sharply bent portion of 1 1; in .semircircularrecesses lb,

the blank from-enteringbetween the opposed 5, surfaces during the molding operations, the crev- .ice. formed-by. said, overlapping interlocking serrations presenting a substantially sinuous-curve of;.r,elatively great amplitude supplanting the usualstraight crevice which is present in the usual female mold, the teeth of the serrations in my jawsnevertpassing entirely out of their cor-, responding roots even when the jaws are in openedv position.

' Iv will explain the invention with reference to the accompanying drawing which illustrates one portion. thereof from z; pivotedon a pintle;;3..and movable towards or v.1 familiarwith the arttoadoptand use the same; .aandawill: summarize in they claims the novel feaotures.oftconstruction, andjnovel combinations of parts, for which protection is desired.

Insaid .drawing:

m Fig. 1 is a! front elevation ofithe usual form of female; mold showing. the jaws in .open position,

.. rear of. the recesses.

.0; Fig.2 is amend. elevation ofthemold shown in 5 Fig. 1 illustrating the usual straight-line crevice .n in .rear of the, recesses.

Fig.3 isaaperspective view ofthe usual counter-stiifenerrblank showing the sharp bend there- .inaprior. to =.p1 cins same. n. the=mo n w ing in. dotted lines the .:subsequently formed a Fig.4 is .a front: elevation ofwmynovel female moldzpzshowing the. jaws in open position,- and howingythe, location jofmy overlapping. interlockingserrated surfaces at the crevice which retain the bent blank/shown. in dotted lines, con- 1 fined; entirelywithin the recesses, preventing any entering the crevice. .Fig. .5. is anaend elevation; of my novel mold w Fig. .6; isanwend elevation of my novel mold .ashomzm in :Fig. 4, -.sh,QWing' the sinuous crevice gmformewby theuserrated portionswhen the jaws are iniopen. position.

- :Figfl is a. side elevation of one jaw member of my gmold. detached.

r In. the drawing, Figs. 1-2. illustrate the usual female, moldnow in, common use, as comprising ;.-pair of oppqsed jaw sections I, 2, having mold- .1; 1ng.,rec es ses la, 2a, respectively, said jaws being zqfrom each; other in the usual manner during the operation of thegmachine .byymeans of links 4 and .ieflnnectedywith slide 6. .Pintle 3 is housed 2b, respectively, in

the. jaw. sections in rear ofthe recesses la, 2a. .Usuallylthe surfaces lo, 20 of the. jaws between & .therecesses la, 2a and.;pintle 3 are plane surfaces :.,adapted tojsubstantially contact when the jaw selections are swungrinto closed position, saidplane surfaces J c, Zoconverging towards pintle 3 when ..the. :jaws. .are inopened: position as shown in Fig. 1 so. as topermit the jaws to be swung to- --wards. each other to shape. the side walls and heelportion of the counter-stifiener blank B ac- -cording to the contourof therecesses Ia, 2a.

The counter-stiffener blank B is usually formed of leather or fibre cut to desired shape, and the operator bends it into the general horse-shoe shape (Fig. 3) prior to insertion of the blank in the recess la, 2a, which operation usually results in a sharp bend B at the center of the blank; and this portion B often enters into the V-shaped crevice to, 2c, of the open mold so that the subsequent closing of the jaws drags into the crevice and traps therein a part of the bent portion B of the blank which will be thus pinched or injured causing the formation of aridge along the bend of the finished blank, which ridge not only detracts from the appearance and sale of the counter, but is a potential source of weakness in. that the ridge is actually formed of fibres of the blank which have been dislodged from their normal place in the blank, removing their anchorage, the dislodged fibres being crushed and broken by the molds in the act of closing. This ridge is actually a rupture extending from the top to bottom of the finished counter at the center of the heel, and often causes the counter-stifiener to break at this point.

My novel female mold shown in Figs. 4-7 obviates this objection by replacing the usual straight-line crevice formed by surfaces lo, 20, in Figs. l2 with a series of interlocking serrations formed on the opposed faces of the jaws extending from the inner ends of the recesses la, 2a to the inner or pintle ends of the jaws, said serrations being in the form of ridges lac, 2x and grooves iy, 2y as shown in Figs. 5-7 inclusive, the ridges on one jaw interlocking in the grooves in the opposite jaw, and the ridges and grooves being of suflicient length and depth that when the jaws are opened to receive the blank B the ridges will not be entirely withdrawn from their cooperating grooves but will form a substantially sinuous crevice at the inner ends of the recesses la 2a of substantial amplitude, thereby positively preventing the bent end B of the blank from entering said crevice.

These ridges lzt, 2x may be one or more in number, and may also be of angular cross-section, or may be rounded convolutions as shown in Figs. 5-7 inclusive, or may be of any other desired cross-section which would make the serrations of the jaws interlocking. As the ridges lac, 20: in one jaw interlock into corresponding grooves 2y, ly in the opposite jaw the ridges of both jaws cross the axis of the pintle 3 and thus make an interlocking fit into recesses in the opposite jaws, thereby dispensing with the straight-line crevice between surfaces 50, 2c, shown in Figs. 1-2, and forming an effective barrier preventing any portion of the blank B from passing beyond the confines of the mold cavity la-2a. Therefore no unwarranted displacement or distortion of the fibers of the blank B can be effected at any point in the mold.

Moreover in the usual mold construction shown in Figs. l-2 the two jaws are kept in lateral adjustment only by the pintle 3 with respect to the flange B2 (Fig. 3) formed by the usual slide (not shown) which passes over the face of the mold, whereas in my construction the interlocking serrations not only permit movement of the mold jaws toward and away from each other, but same also hold the jaws in proper lateral adjustment so that the slide of the machine which forms the flange B2 (Fig. 3) around the lower edge of the finished stifiener will always form flanges of unvarying and uniform thickness, which is a very desirable result.

I claim:-

1. A mold for shaping counter-stifiener blanks comprising a pair of opposed recessed jaws movable towards or from each other and provided with portions adapted to prevent a blank being caught in the crevice between the jaws during the shaping operation; the said portions maintaining the lateral adjustment of the jaws when closed.

2. A mold for shaping counter-stiffener blanks comprising a pair of opposed recessed jaws movable towards or from each other and provided at the rear ends of the recesses with overlapping and interlocking portions which when the mold is opened will prevent a blank being pinched during the shaping operation.

3. A female mold for shaping counter-stiffener blanks or the like comprising a pair of opposed recessed jaws movable towards or from each other, the opposed faces of the jaws adjacent the recesses being provided with overlapping and interlocking portions adapted to prevent the blank from entering the crevice between the opposed iaces of the jaws during all shaping operations.

i. A mold for shaping counter-stiffener blanks comprising a pair of opposed. recessed jaws movable towards or from each other, the opposed faces of the jaws adjacent the recesses being provided with overlapping portions forming a substantially sinuous crevice between the inner ends of the recesses in the jaws when the mold is open, and preventing the blank being pinched during the shaping operations. :1

5. A female mold for shaping counter-stifiener blanks or the like comprising a pair of opposed recessed jaws movable towards or from each other, the opposed faces of the jaws adjacent the recesses being provided with interlocking overlapping portions forming a substantially sinuous crevice of substantial amplitude between the opposed faces of the jaws when the mold is open, thereby retaining the blank within the confines of the recesses.

6. A mold for shaping counter-stiffener blanks or the like comprising a pair of opposed recessed jaws movable towards or from each other, the opposed faces of the jaws beyond the inner ends of recesses being provided with alternating ridges and grooves interengaging when the mold is opened to prevent pinching of a blank entered between the jaws preparatory to shaping same.

'7. A female mold for shaping counter-stiffener blanks or the like comprising a pair of opposed recessed jaws movable towards or from each other, the opposed faces of the jaws beyond the inner ends of recesses being provided with alternating ridges and grooves interlocking while the mold is opened to form a substantially sinuous crevice of substantial amplitude between the opposed faces of the jaws retaining the blank within the confines of the recesses.

8. In a mold as set forth in claim '7, the interlocking ridges and grooves maintaining the jaws in fixed lateral adjustment when the jaws are closed.

9. A mold for shaping counter-stiffener blanks or the like comprising a pair of pivoted recessed jaws, the jaws being provided adjacent their pivot with interengaging and interlocking Drojections which when the mold is opened will prevent a blank being pinched between the jaws at the inner ends of the recesses during the shaping operation.

10. A female mold for shaping counterstiffener blanks or the like comprising a pair of opposed recessed jaws movable towards or from each other, the opposed faces of the jaws beyond the inner ends of recesses being provided with interlocking serrations in the form of alternating teeth and grooves, the teeth of one jaw fitting within and terminating within the grooves of the other jaw when the mold is opened thereby forming a substantially sinuous crevice of substantial amplitude at the inner ends of the recesses retaining the blank within the confines of l the recesses during the shaping operations.

LEO F. EXLEY. 

